Floor, My One True Love
by ChemicallyEnhanced
Summary: The floors at Marukawa are suddenly waxed one day. Ritsu doesn't know this. Cue the slipping and falling. Fluff.


Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi because I'm too busy being a klutz.

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Yawning, Ritsu rubbed at his eyes sleepily, barely looking where he was going. It was a wonder he could even function at this moment, as he'd had to stay up until the early hours of morning finishing the manuscripts for Chiharu Yoshikawa, that one mangaka who never got to his deadlines in time. It was an even greater wonder that Hatori could deal with someone so _lazy_ —Ritsu had heard of the author's notable procrastination whenever his fellow editor was yelling on the phone at him. He was sure he would have given up on someone like that by then; Hatori had some resolve. Narrowly missing running into someone as he crossed the street, commuters rushing back and forth like a river, Ritsu thought of all the things that Takano would shout at him if he were to fall asleep or be late to work, and perked up immediately.

He didn't want a repeat of last month, when Ritsu had been so late Takano literally knocked down his door in his flight of rage and _clawed_ Ritsu out of his apartment to work. God, that was a total nightmare, one that he didn't want to remember at all.

Still, Ritsu could feel the sleepiness creeping up on him as he entered Marukawa Shonen and punched the elevator button for up. _Was the elevator always this slow, or…?_ He was so exhausted that he couldn't even finish his thought correctly. Ritsu laughed to himself tiredly as the elevator doors slid open and he shuffled in, pressing the number "4" and leaning back against the metal walls of the elevator. Those lights were really too bright…

"Ugh…" Ritsu pushed a heel into his sore eyes, trying not to just fall asleep in the elevator and inevitably bringing the doom that always came with it—from Takano, of course, because who else could it possibly be?

As the elevator doors opened and Ritsu trudged out into the hallway, eyes only a crack open, he suddenly found his footing not as steady as it should have been. He didn't even think to stop before beginning a slow descent to the hard tile floor. _What in the world is happening?_ Ritsu had no idea; his mind was so hazy all he could think was how he'd predictably lose consciousness as soon as he hit the ground.

For some odd reason, time slowed down as he fell. Didn't this only happen in movies? Ah, whatever. In the time it took for him to slip and for him to reach the ground, Ritsu pondered. Well…not really, since he was so exhausted—but he was able to get a few thoughts in, at least. The first was, _did I forget the turn the water off this morning?_ Obviously, this was a really stupid question to ask because 1) Ritsu had absolutely no idea, and B) He would undoubtedly forget this moment by the end of the day because of his _overbearing work load and unbelievably infuriating boss!_ Which led him to his next thought: _Wonder if Takano is here yet…_

Well, the answer to that question was a big fat _YES_ , because for another odd reason, Takano was _always_ there before Ritsu, no matter how much he tried to avoid his inescapable neighbor in coming to work early and avoiding him for the rest of the day. Ritsu was _forced_ to interact with him, much as he disliked and/or loved those interactions. He would never tell anybody, of course.

Strangely enough, Ritsu could _feel_ the ground rushing up to meet him, that weird air friction that always came with plummeting to the floor. He pleaded to whoever was listening at _7.00_ that he would automatically black out after cracking his head open on the hard floor instead of feeling any of the incredible pain that always came with this kind of situation. Letting out a deep breath, Ritsu opened his eyes again when he didn't feel much of _anything_ , just the support of a firm, warm body underneath him and the scratchy cloth feeling of a sweater.

 _God, I hope this isn't who I think it is_ …

Unfortunately, God was on break and couldn't answer Ritsu's hope for a miracle, so it turned out to be—yes, we all guessed it—Takano Masamune, former lover of Ritsu and current tyrant boss. Ritsu was awake in an instant, his body tensing up and hoping that Takano wouldn't say anything that'd make Ritsu want to slap him—or kiss him. Either one.

"Wow, Onodera, I thought I could make you fall for me again but not like _this_ ," came Takano's unbearably smug and arrogant voice.

 _Oh, sweet Jesus, did he really have to say_ that _, out of all things? Well, I suppose it was coming for me, but I mean—NO, don't think like that! It's always his fault!_

Ritsu tried to struggle—weakly, curse this skinny body—out of Takano's arms, but his grip was far too strong for someone who'd had four hours of sleep last night. "Takano-san," Ritsu complained, inwardly kicking himself for sounding so whiny, "let go of me…"

"Mm, no, I think I'll keep you here for a bit," Takano replied as he pulled Ritsu closer to his chest, his mouth turned up into a wide smirk. "Besides, I just saved you from certain danger. Don't you think you should be more grateful to me, your savior?"

Blushing—and once again inwardly kicking himself for even doing that—Ritsu jerked forward half-heartedly, knowing that he couldn't get out of this no matter how hard he tried. He knew that he should at least _thank_ Takano for not letting him crack his head on the floor and bleed out to death, but doing that would only boost the other's determination to make Ritsu say he loved him—as well as his ego, which he did _not_ need any more of, no thank you, sir.

"…thank you," Ritsu mumbled to himself, and he felt Takano start slightly in surprise behind him, clearly not expecting Ritsu to even think about thanking him for his services.

 _Well…_ Ritsu thought, _you're not the only one full of surprises_.

Takano quickly regained his smooth exterior and leaned down to murmur in Ritsu's ear, "Well, why don't you show me _how_ grateful you are?"

 _Oh god_.

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A/N: Re-reading all of these sure is a trip down memory lane. I can literally see how I'm getting better as I'm writing these.

-ChemicallyEnhanced


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